One Hour Runner: 45 minutes!

Yes, it's a record. On Tuesday, I ran for 45 minutes. On the treadmill. It was actually not so bad, the running. I listened to a This American Life, which is the only thing that enabled me to stay on the treadmill that long! It was a whole episode about Penn State being a party school. The poor townies talked about the drunk kids that ruin their lives by being loud and wounded and dumb all the time. I could relate! Only a few more weeks before I am done with One Hour Runner. But to be honest, right now I am happy with just running 45 minutes at a time. I might take a break and stay here for a while. It's a nice length for a workout.

-Kristin

Kristin got props for running a full 45 minutes by the sign-in guy. I never get a 'good going' for walking at a moderate pace on the treadmill!

- Megan Leigh 

One Hour Runner: More Than Half Way Done!

Yesterday I ran week 6, day 1 of the one hour runner program, which means I'm more than half way done with the program. Disappointingly, my longest run has only been thirty-eight minutes. The time picks up in the second half of the program. Still, I've been hanging in there, even in the cold weather! This week I will finally run for longer than 40 minutes, which will be exciting. I may run slow, but at least I'm running. 2011 was a great year in that I proved to myself that I could do something that I never really thought I could do.

-Kristin

One Hour Runner: End of Week Four

Sorry we have been gone for so long! I was helping with a book fair at Elliot's school all week, and that is pretty much all I had time to do. I ended up with a lot of new kid books, and the fair raised a lot of money for Elliot's school. So all that was nice.

Today I got to go out for my last run in week four. This was an exciting run, because it was the first time in the program that I got to run longer than thirty minutes! That's right, I ran for thirty-five minutes today. In reality, I've run that long a lot in the past. But it was still exciting to do it officially. Since I hadn't run for the last week, it was kind of hard! It felt good though, to be running on a brisk winter morning. I'm back!

-Kristin

One Hour Runner: Back on Track!

I took a week-long break from running, because the arch of one of my feet was aching. After hearing scary injury stories from many friends, I thought best just to let it heal! I was a little afraid that when I tried to start back up, my week's hiatus would ruin everything and I wouldn't be able to jump back into my schedule. I didn't need to worry, though! It felt great to get back out there, and my feet didn't hurt at all.

I also tried a new route at Ben's suggestion--the greenway next to the Hudson, but this time going North instead of South. It may be my new favorite place to run. Yesterday morning, when I went out, a mist hung over the Hudson. The George Washington Bridge and the little red light house peeked out, and you could catch glimpses of the bluffs on the other side of the river. Ducks and geese bobbed along in the water. The greenway takes you right alongside the river, with wide-open space on both sides of you... it's not at all claustrophobic-feeling, like the southern greenway, where you are wedged between the river (down a steep embankment) and the westside highway (up a steep embankment). Also, the path is flat and not slanted like the south greenway, so it feels much better to run on! The only good/bad thing about this part of the path is that it is EMPTY. It's so rare to be alone in Manhattan, but there were stretches when I was running on a wooded path all alone for a couple minutes here! On the one hand, it was nice and peaceful. On the other hand, I felt like I was about to set up the opening sequence of a Law & Order episode. Maybe I will try to go at times when there are more people around.

I tried to take a picture, because it was so pretty, but my dumb iphone has a horrible camera. All you could see was white. I am jealous of Megan's new version!

-Kristin

One Hour Runner: In a Funk

For a few runs, I was doing so well! Ten minute miles effortlessly. Now I am back to twelve minute miles. Longer than twelve minutes today, even. Why?! I hope that I leave this funk behind soon. Today I also had to run in the cold wind and rain, which didn't help.

Happily, I've gotten the chance to test out my new interval jacket from Athleta. And I love it! It is super light, but it keeps me toasty warm once I'm running. Somehow it seems to wick the sweat off of my body, so I stay dry and warm. At first I thought the sleeves were too long, but I figured out that the length is great for cold days because you can sort of retract your hands into the sleeves to keep them warm. I also love the pockets! Instead of having to lug my iphone around in my hands, I can stick it in the chest pocket. Keys in a side pocket. So much easier than before! I am a happy camper.

For the last couple weeks, I have also been trying to keep up my enthusiasm by looking at some of the bloggers who ran in the NYC marathon. It's pretty amazing that all of these people found the time to train in their busy lives, and their stories are inspiring to read. So far, I especially like the Carrots N Cake one, Lauren Fleshman's blog, and the Healthy, Happier Bear recap.

I think Kim and I are going to skip the 5K we had been planning on running tomorrow. So much going on with all the cooking! But I am looking forward to hearing about the half-marathon that some of our friends are running in Atlanta tomorrow... so proud of them!

-Kristin

One Hour Runner: Slow Run

After my last two runs, in which I glided over the sidewalk, today's run was distinctly blah. I don't know why, but I was slow. I didn't get very far at all compared to last time, and my legs felt heavy--it was a real effort. And to top it all off, when I was done, one of the tendons on the back of my left leg hurt. Which never happens! It's strange how you can try your best, and some days are great and some days are not. I told myself the important thing was just to finish, and I did do that, so I'm happy. Hope to get back to my glory days though!

-Kristin

One Hour Runner: End of Week One

Well I finished week one of One Hour Runner on Saturday. I just ran for thirty minutes every day, no big deal. It's what I have been doing for a month or so now. But my last run, the one on Saturday, was my best ever! Usually, when I start running, it's kind of a struggle to get into the zone. It feels hard, and it takes time to get warmed up. This time, I felt great from the first moment, and I was able to run three whole miles in thirty minutes. Usually it takes me more like thirty-five minutes to go that far.

What was the difference? I suspect it may have been the yoga class I went to on Friday. My body felt brand new! I liked that feeling so much I went back for another yoga class this morning. I am going to try and fit in as much yoga as possible in this one month trial membership... and if it keeps feeling so worthwhile, then I am going to try and stick with it.

Another great thing about running lately is that it's cool, but not too cold. Perfect for working hard outside. And the fall colors on the trees are gorgeous. Running along the river path and seeing all the trees across the Hudson is pretty glorious. I wonder if my new found appreciation for the seasons is a sign I am growing old? Soon I will be oohing and ahhing over Canada geese, like somebody's parents I know.

-Kristin

One Hour Runner: Day One

With my Couch to 5K days over and the exhilaration of race weekend still fresh, I decided I needed a new running challenge. There were a lot of choices, so it was difficult to decide what to do next! Bridge to 10K, which would have me running a 10K in a matter of weeks? Ease into 8K? One Hour Runner? I decided to opt for One Hour Runner, which very gradually gets you from running for 30 minutes to running for 60 minutes. I liked it because it seems tailored to people with real lives--shorter, manageable runs twice a week, and a long run once a week that you can save for weekends. By the end I should be able to run about 10K at a time, which is my next distance goal!

The beginning of One Hour Runner is not terribly exciting, so I might not do daily updates... It looks like I'll be getting used to 30 minute runs by doing only those for the first three weeks. Today I got to do my first 30 minute run of the program on a beautiful autumn morning. I ran on the greenway, and it was glorious!


Also, in order to reward myself for finishing my 5K race and get myself psyched about the new program, I decided to splurge a little on running gear from Athleta. With the help of my wonderful mother, I got a new running jacket that should keep me toasty through the winter months. I also picked out two running shirts, for layering. I posted the things I got here. Hopefully they fit! And I got two running books I have had my eye on for a while: Marathon, by Hal Higdon, and Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall. I figure these should be inspiring!

                                                      -Kristin